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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26987008">The Most Important Game</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACuriousParadox/pseuds/ACuriousParadox'>ACuriousParadox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Blaseball (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Charleston Shoe Thieves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:00:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,352</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26987008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACuriousParadox/pseuds/ACuriousParadox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Snyder Briggs is pitching in the playoffs, and their team needs a win.  No pressure, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Charleston Shoe Thieves Fanfiction</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Most Important Game</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Snyder Briggs was not a typical pitcher.  They did not wait for signs from their catcher, they did not have different types or speeds of pitches.  Whatever Snyder found in their hand, they threw vaguely towards home plate.  </p><p>This time, however, it didn’t work out.  Snyder’s first pitch connects with Richmond Harrison’s bat as he runs to first.  Snyder sighs and can feel his temperature rising already.  The Shoe Thieves needed him today.  This was Game 4 of the first round of the Season 9 playoffs.  The Shoe Thieves were leading the Tigers 2-1 in the series, and a win today guarantees them another round.  Needless to say, this is the most pressure Snyder has pitched under in a while.  </p><p>They attempt to steel themselves as Paula Mason steps up to the plate.  As soon as she does, Snyder hurls the ball towards Stu, but it settles into her glove outside the strike zone.  Snyder was still feeling the guilt over the recent feedback; Jaylen Hotdogfingers, back from the dead and switching teams like the most fair weather of fans, had been swapped for Beasley Gloom, dog pitcher extraordinaire and dog of former Shoe Thief Workman Gloom.  Even amidst the number 1 seed gain, the Shoe Thieves were all missing their favorite dog.  Snyder knew it should have been them to swap; not only was Beasley a better pitcher than them, he was closer than them with all the Shoe Thieves.  But for now, they tried their hardest to put it out of their mind.</p><p>The next pitch is drilled to Esme at short stop, who flips it to Howell at second.  He throws a bullet to Blood at first base, but Paula beats the throw.  One out down, twenty-six more to go.  </p><p>Alden Cashmoney approaches the plate.  Snyder throws another ball, this time almost out of Stu’s reach.  They curse as they smell the faintest beginnings of their hat catching on fire.  They throw a dagger to the inside corner that Alison can only watch sail in.  About time, Snyder thought.  Another pitch, another crack of the bat, and another failed double play.  </p><p>Usurper Violet is next to face Snyder, and on the first pitch she hits it high, but not very far.  A couple of steps to Blood’s left and the ball settles in his glove.  </p><p>The next time Snyder takes the mound, they’re a little calmer.  The Shoe Thieves scored thanks to a steal from Simon and a double from Howell.  At least they had a bit of insurance in this game.</p><p>Peanutiel Duffy is Snyder’s first challenger in the second.  They miss two pitches before making him whiff in a big fashion.  After a foul, Peanutiel hits a weak ball to first base, which Blood happily gathers and tags for the out.  </p><p>Snyder actually gets ahead of Carmelo Plums, before they hit to where Hotbox was floating around.  Ren Morton does the same on the first pitch she sees, marking a 1-2-3 inning for Snyder.  </p><p>As they head to the dugout, they can hear the cheering of the crowd.  “Lock it down!” The crowd encourages them, a rallying cry for the Shoe Thieves pitchers this postseason.  Snyder smiles.  Despite their performance this season, despite their anger over losing Beasley, they can feel a small sense of confidence spark within them, adding to their fire.</p><p>This spark did not last long.  Snyder allowed three singles in a row to start the third, eliminating the Shoe Thieves lead.  They desperately tried to direct the intense heat of their body into their hands, but they forever remained cold.  They could feel this moment slipping away from them, and all of the doubts they had about themself came crashing in.  The fans who doubted them and their skills, who were worried when they saw Snyder’s name on the game preview.  The teammates who they failed to connect in a deeper level with.  The frustration they had about their own abilities and whether playing the game in their unique style was a hinderance rather then a help.  With runners on the corners, Snyder struck out Mason and Cashmoney on three pitches each.</p><p>That…. wasn’t supposed to happen.  Snyder knee themself well enough at this point.  Once a team got under their skin to make their blood boil, they seemingly lost all control.  But this time, Snyder got out of the jam, as Usurper hits a ground ball to Simon at third base.</p><p>Snyder breathed a sigh of relief.  They still had a very long way to go, but something about this game felt different.  Maybe, they thought, there was a reason they were still here.  A reason to stay on the Shoe Thieves, some greater destiny for themselves that they had never considered.  </p><p>Another Howell double let Snyder take the mound in the fourth with a lead once again.  And somehow, they kept up their momentum, forcing a quick groundout from Peanutiel.  Plums also went back to the dugout quietly after grounding one to Esme.  But they felt themselves slipping again after Ren hit a single.  </p><p>Snyder didn’t know what they should do.  Getting mad seemed to work last inning, but who’s to say that it would work again?  They’re worried that their temper might get out of control and cost them the game.  All this thinking about what they should be doing just kept making Snyder hotter and hotter, and they barely noticed that they pitched two strikes to Zion Aliciakeys.  Confused and surprised, the next pitch was safely scooped up by Blood.</p><p>Everything Snyder knew was flipping on its head.  The crowd continuing to cheer for them was an unfamiliar experience to say the least.  As they near the dugout, they ask Stu about it.</p><p>“Hey Stu, does something about today seem off?”</p><p>Stu ponders for a moment before answering.  “Well playoff blaseball always seems to do some weird things.  It’s unpredictable, you know?  Best thing you can do is keep moving forward, no matter what gets thrown your way.”</p><p>Snyder cracked a smile.  Stu was a welcome presence for them and for the rest of the team.  They realized there probably isn’t anyone else they’d rather be throwing at. </p><p>A strikeout to Randy Castillo starts the fifth for Snyder.  They were doing this.  They could be the hero that their team needed them to be.  The confidence swelling in them, they delivered to Richmond.</p><p>Who smacks it for a single.  Mason hits another.  Cashmoney a third.  For the second time this game, Snyder has allowed three singles in a row, though no runs have come from this one yet.  They curse as the ball returns to them, trying to will the ball to burst into flames.  Why did this happen to them?  Why, every time they gained some confidence, was it forcibly taken away?  What did they have to do to prove themselves?</p><p>Snyder strikes out Usurper Violet in three straight pitches.  </p><p>They are beyond frustrated.  Nothing about this game seems to make any sense.  Moments of greatness and moments of ineptitude seem to occur with no rhyme or reason.  Snyder tried to complain about it, but people would offer them advice, not support.  When nothing seemed to work, those people would simply shrug and say, “that’s Blaseball for ya.”</p><p>But that wasn’t an acceptable answer anymore.  Snyder hurls towards Peanutdiel, who laced one through the right center gap.  Two score, and the Shoe Thieves are losing for the first time this game.  The crowd quiets in the same frustration Snyder feels on the mound.  The difference, of course, is that the fans had each other to lean on and support.  Out on the mound, Snyder was alone.  They barely noticed when Cashmoney stole third.  But Carmelo harmlessly dribbling one in front of Stu would end the inning.</p><p>The bats of the Shoe Thieves were doing all they could to alliviate Snyder’s pain, with Howell batting yet another run in.  Snyder went into the bottom of the sixth tied.  They didn’t know what to think.  They didn’t know what to feel.  So they decided to do the only thing they could right now: pitch.  </p><p>Ren hit another weak ball, which Stu picked up and lasered to Blood.  Aliciakeys seems frozen in the batters box as they watched three pitches sail in for three strikes.  Castillo gets on with a single, and the third pitch Harrison sees is skied to center field, but Woodman has room to make the catch and keep the tie. </p><p>Snyder didn’t get any help from their team in the top of the seventh.  As they slowly walked out to the mound, they were starting to worry about extra innings.  The Tigers were the home team, and any extra innings are always subject to a shame loss.  The team did not need that right now, and Snyder was done putting the team through those situations.</p><p>Paula Mason stands at the plate and watches four pitches fly by her, three of them beautifully painting the corners.  Cashmoney is similarly frozen for three pitches, before hitting a long fly to Hotbox, who had shifted to left center.  As it throws the ball back to Snyder, it morphs a thumbs up for them.  Snyder allows himself to smile again.  But they get into a battle with Usurper, eventually giving up a single.  </p><p>Snyder has given up trying to understand blaseball.  In this moment, they decide two things.  First, Snyder Briggs plays for their team and its players.  As confusing as blaseball is, the Shoe Thieves have become a family, and Snyder was still there, whether they liked it or not.  And second, Snyder would be themselves and accept the outcomes.  It was clear to them that they only had so much control of the situations that occurred on the diamond.  Whatever is going to happen will happen, and Snyder is just the medium through which history was written.  Snyder didn’t expect to stop hating themselves all at once in that moment, but they were confidently taking that first step towards that future.</p><p>Peanutiel Duffy grounded out to short.</p><p>Stu had been unable to score after hitting a triple, leaving the game still tied going into the bottom of the eighth.  The fire beneath Snyder’s skin was now fueling their focus, their determination.  If the Thieves can’t score yet, then it’s their duty to keep the game tied, for however long they need to.  </p><p>Plums hits the first pitch they see into Hotbox’s glove.  Morris hits her second offering for another single, the twelfth of the game for the Tigers.  But this didn’t faze Snyder anymore.  They had a job to do.  They hang a K on Aliciakeys, and get Castillo to ground out to Haley at third.  </p><p>The crowd is on Snyder’s side once again, turning their attention to the bats of the Shoe Thieves to avoid the extra innings.  With a Blood Hamburger two-run blast, the fate of the game returns to Snyder’s cold hands.  </p><p>Three more outs, and the Shoe Thieves Will advance, killing the hopes of the Tigers of ascending this season.  Snyder must face the top of the order, and stares down Richardson Harrison, who opened this game up by singling on their first pitch.  After fouling one off, Harrison blasts one to deep right field, but not deep enough where Richardson Games can’t reel it in.  Two more, Snyder thinks, as the crowd echo their thoughts through the stadium.  </p><p>Paula Mason steps up to face Snyder.  She fouls one off, then hits a rope to shallow right.  Snyder sighs, but looks up in just enough time to see Richardson grab the ball with his grappling hook and throw it to Blood, slamming into his glove just a moment before Paula contacts the bag.  </p><p>Snyder needs one more out to be the hero they’ve always wanted to be.  One more out to prove to themselves and to everyone that they deserve to be here, that they deserve to be a Shoe Thief.  Their transformation has only just begun, but every great redemption story has a beginning.  Snyder squares up and hurls the ball towards Aldon Cashmoney, who hits a high fly ball safely into Blood Hamburger’s glove.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Stu was right.  Playoff Blaseball was unpredictable.</p><p>She had just hit the three run homerun that won the Thieves the game, the series, and the Season 9 Championship against the Baltimore Crabs.  Snyder, the rest of the bench, and it seemed the whole of Charleston erupted as the ball left the stadium.  But before Stu could touch home, the skies turned red.  The Shelled One appeared, parting the clouds.  </p><p>Snyder saw Haley tense up.  They knew how much he hated this thing.  Snyder was never a big fan either, but they elected to stay out of this whole “Blaseball Gods” business.  But it seemed the Shoe Thieves no longer had such a luxury.  Before anyone knew what was going on, the team was thrust out into the field, with Jaylen Hotdogfingers on the mound.  No one expected what came next.</p><p>The shelled players materialized in the away team dugout.  One look was all it took to see that they were not themselves.  The Shelled One had done something to them, changed them in some way.  Peanut Bong stepped up to the plate, and somehow the Shoe Thieves were playing an even more important game than game 5 of the finals.</p><p>Snyder was furious.  They had just won.  How could any of this be happening?  Things made even less sense now than when Snyder was pitching.  They felt their temperature rise uncontrollably.  Snyder saw their friends and teammates in immense danger, but they also saw and were enraged by the transformation of the shelled players into the Nut’s personal minions.  Snyder erupted into flame, and tried to run out to the field to do something, anything.  But a barrier knocked them back to the floor, preventing any unwanted additional players on the field.  As the rest of their team fought for what seemed like their lives, Cornelius, Fitzgerald, Gunther, and Snyder, could only sit helplessly on the bench and watch.</p>
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